Monday, January 04, 2010

If you analyzed my diet over the past two weeks, you'd conclude that cheese and dessert had combined to make a new food group. I feel as though they have been the main staples of my diet since the holidays started and am scratching my head trying to remember consuming an actual ordinary meal--massive multi-course dinner parties excluded, of course.

I'm partially blaming Julie for this influx of artery clogging ripened milk products in my diet because she introduced me to these Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps, and once one has the perfect transportation for the cheese from wooden board to lips, there is no stopping the heavy traffic.

Similar to Raincoast Crisps, the deadly addicting, yet expensive cracker that Julie brilliantly patterned her recipe after, these treats, plus a wheel of triple creme Brie are a Girl's Best Friend. They are delicately flavored with buttermilk & honey, scented with fresh rosemary and contain just enough nuts & fruit to eclipse the rest of the accompaniments on the cheese board.

OK, the crisps are very simple to make--and don't worry, you're not going to have to knead bread dough! The batter, which is leavened with baking soda, comes together quickly and two hefty loaves are baked off in a jiff. When cooled, the loaves are sliced and the slices baked again into the crisps you see here; yep, it's a similar method to making biscotti.

The longest part is probably slicing the loaves, but if you do this while they are very cold or partially frozen, the result will be uniform, thin slices of bread which will produce lovely, lovely crisps.

Do visit Dinner with Julie for her entertaining post on the subject and a few ideas for alternative add-ins.

Preheat oven to 350° F.In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes. Add the raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seed and rosemary and stir just until blended.Pour the batter into two 8”x4” loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. You can leave it until the next day or pop it in the freezer.Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. (Julie likes to slice and bake one loaf and pop the other in the freezer for another day.)

Reduce the oven heat to 300° F and bake them for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden.

I loooooooove Raincoast Crisps, but at over $7 a box, I don't buy them anymore except on very special occasions. I've had the recipe in my Facebook message box, from my cousin, for a few months now though and have been dying to make my own batch. SO thanks for the push! They look identcal to the commercial version, but I bet they taste a million times better. Thanks Aimee!

Wow. I had some goat cheese in the fridge hanging out, so decided this was a great day to finally try this bread. It is delicious and that is even before toasting. Got a couple slices in the oven toasting, now. Can't wait to see how/if that improves it. I wanted a savory snack to take to a party tomorrow and something to picnic with on a girl's weekend. This is perfect! Thanks! PS-I used whole wheat flour and it worked great.